January 05, 08 by Mr.Q
According to BusinessWeek, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet. With the last of the big labels on board, it looks like that DRMed music’s days are numbered. By partnering with online retailers such as Amazon and social networks such as Myspace and Facebook, the labels want to take a bite out of Apple’s monopolizing market shares.
The move by Sony BMG is especially noteworthy because back in 2005, in an effort to regulate the transfering of music, their CDs were came bundled with rootkits, which besides taking over your pc, also leave it vulnerable to virus attacks.
This is certainly good news, if it sticks. Besides the fact that those who bought DRMed music are now forced to buy them again, there is nothing that will stop the music industry from taking the second pass at the DRM scheme. Until then, enjoy the music the way it meant to be. Next stop … the movie industry.
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December 29, 07 by Mr.Q
It seems that the RIAA must really hate its customers. It’s one thing to go after people who illegally download your music, but to go after the people who purchased your music legally? What have they been smoking? According to WashingtonPost, in the ongoing case against an Arizona man, the RIAA is arguing that copying music from a legally purchased CD is illegal. And they still wonder why CD sales are still down?
So what if you want your music on your iPods, Zunes, Zens, Sansas or other DAPs? Simple. Don’t buy CDs. With services like AmazonMP3s offering DRM-free music, (iTunes only starting to offer it, same with Microsoft and Yahoo), there is no reason to buy CD ever again. Better still, only buying RIAA-free music. However, that is unlikely to happen any time soon as the lables’ grip on the industry is still pretty tight. Of course, if you want to listen to your music for free, you get your fix from services like imeem.
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Update: Since the incident, the RIAA president claimed that the Sony BMG lawyer simply “misspoke” during the trial. Go here if you’re interested in hearing the interview.